Flying Pig wrote:


Currently, we do have the passive income to stay frugally afloat and still
handle the emergency large outlays such as the new standing rigging we did
recently, but, of course, that's also subject to change. So, we stay very
frugal and try to build the cruising kitty rather than just stay stagnant.

We have no global plans, but we have been tossing around the idea of a
circumnav. That would involve a great deal larger kitty, I expect, and,
other realities intruding, Lydia's now talking about flying home not less
than once a year to get her grandkid fix, his parents being unwilling to
live the boat life, and not being able to afford hotel stays, at least where
we're going to be for the near future.

However, back to the circumnav, there's so much to see and do locally, that,
other than just going around for the sake of doing it, we may well decide
that we're content in this area. Lydia's mom and sister live in England, an
Atlantic circumnav might be fun. Certainly a Caribbean circumnav is
feasible, and if so, we might find ourselves back in the US.

That said, with the proviso that everything in cruising is subject to
change, we do not expect to have the boat back in the lower 48 before we get
off it for good.

We'll do the Bahamas for at least a year, and then head down the thorny path
(see above about plans!) and play in the EC, where we originally expected to
be when the wreck finally convinced Lydia that perhaps doing the east coast
at least once would be a good idea :{))

So, that's the "plan" - but stay tuned for the reality :{))


There seems to be a big gap between what you've been doing and a
circumnav, but running the crescent down to South America or the
circumnav of the Atlantic seems like a reasonable step.

We were chatting up the idea of a run to the Med and then a circumnav of
that with dreams of Italy and Africa glowing in our minds and Ireland /
England on the way. That seems to be further and further away lately due
to the weakness of the dollar. Like if you go to the UK, your dollars
are halved in value as pounds spend like dollars but of course, you need
to use 2 dollars to buy a pound. If we needed any sort of major refit
while in the EC, it may prove ruinous.

The other advantage of going around the Atlantic is that there are many
interesting places to put in. I had spent most of my life sailing the
northern Pacific but then took to the Atlantic finding it much more
enjoyable due to the many harbors all full of history. I never got north
of Nova Scotia or even put in there but that's on the to do list.

OTOH, the weather can be brutal. I experienced a touch of late autumn /
early winter in New England. Let's just say I was impressed.